SOLVED Reset files not available

[Wolfie]

Hi all,

I was fixing a (Virus infected) laptop for someone yesterday, apart from using a Linux based AV solution (Windows Defender didn't clear the virus in quick scan!), I also tried to reset the PC for that just in case scenario, this is when I was confronted with the message that the necessary files to do a reset were not available and I should use an installation disk and do the repair from "Advanced Settings".

Has anyone else had that problem?, I have fixed (1 virus found and mouse broken) the laptop in the meantime and just want to know if someone else has ever seen that message?.

The AV product I used was the following (I only had a 4 year old version available yesterday!):

https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/avira-security-rescue-system-live-cd-anti-virus-app.14109/

 

[Saltgrass]

Do you have the install media version of the system you are working on? If so, you can do a Repair install, but if any virus traces were left, they would probably still be there after..

When you do a reset, are you choosing to keep personal data? Who knows what the anti-virus clearing or virus activity may have effected..

 

[Wolfie]

Do you have the install media version of the system you are working on?

Hi Saltgrass,

no I didn't, that was part of the problem, I upgraded the laptop to 1909 in Jan 2020 and it was working fine, he let a friend on it and he viewed a few "naughty" websites hence the virus, I only have an older (32 bit) version of Win 10 and I couldn't get it to work correctly either, might be because it was version 1803 but I just don't know. All said and done, it working again after ridding it of the virus and swapping out the mouse!.

I will mark this thread as solved even though the question as to why it wouldn't reset is still a mystery!.